Echo's Down The Hall
by DarkAngel814
Summary: Faith, the Rogue slayer, is captured by the council and sent to the dollhouse. Does she have a choice in whether to keep her memories or not? ONESHOT.


**Author's Note:**** This is for the final round of the Fanfic Competition I am in. It could be about anything as long as it was a crossover between Whedon shows. I love this one, aside from the Puppet Angel one I think this is my favorite fic. I really love writing as Faith. She is my favorite character, and while I'm always nervous when I start I love writing her. **

**Also to anyone who cares lol I'm hoping to work on A Long Way Home and Angel of the Night tomorrow and update them soon.

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Echo's Down the Hall

Her head hung heavy, a fog clouding her mind. She felt as though everything of importance had been dumped out of her head. She could hear feet shuffling and whispers of panic, whispers about her awakening. She tried to force open her eyes, but the room was dark. She could feel hands wrapped tightly around her arms, dragging her forward. Where were they taking her?

The closer they got, the more awake she felt. Lifting her head she tried to figure out where she was, she tried to stop the men pulling her forward.

"Let me go!" She said, her voice shaky, as though she were testing it out. She was strong, strong enough to throw all the men off her, but whatever they had done to her had not completely worn off yet. She struggled against their hold on her.

A door in front of her opened and she was shoved in. She fell to the floor as the door slammed shut behind her.

"Hello Faith," it was a woman's voice, but not one she recognized. "Welcome to the Dollhouse."

Faith pulled herself together, she felt fully awake now, her strength returning. She got to her feet and looked around the room. It was a small room, with no windows. There was a table in the center of the room with some papers on it, and a woman standing against the wall. She was wearing a suit; her dark hair pinned up tightly.

"Who the hell are you?" Faith yelled at the woman, her fists clenched tightly. "I'm not above giving you a new face if I have to! Tell me where I am!"

"There will be no need for that; you wouldn't want another sedative would you?" She said calmly. She took a seat at the table and shuffled the papers in her hand. Looking up at Faith she motioned for her to sit. "Please have a seat."

"Not a chance. Why am I here?" Faith said, ignoring her request.

"The council has brought you here. They feel you cannot be rehabilitated and that this would be a better alternative to their original plans..."

"Better than what? I was in jail. I was doing my time."

Faith walked over to where the door was. There was no handle; it was as if the door had disappeared. She could see the outline, but there was no way to open it from the inside.

"Jail really isn't a suitable place for a slayer," the woman said, grabbing Faith's attention.

Faith looked at her narrowing her eyes. This had to be a bad dream, one of the endless nightmares; she would wake up from soon. "Listen lady—"

"My name is Adelle Dewitt. Please Faith, have a seat."

Faith yanked the chair out from under the table and dropped into the seat. She leaned in her hands pressed against the table. "Where am I?" She asked once more, her voice as threatening as she could make it.

"You are in the Dollhouse. Like I said, the Council had you brought here. They feel it is your best option."

"What the hell is the dollhouse? Isn't that some kind of kid's toy? You guys are sick."

Adelle smirked, "We're about giving second chances, a new life Faith; one where the past wouldn't haunt you." Adelle slid a piece of paper over to Faith and placed a pen on top. "All you have to do is sign."

"There are no second chances in life. I've learned that by now." Faith looked at the paper and picked up the pen. She thought about how easy it would be to kill her with it. One swift motion. "You pay for every mistake you make. You deal with it, and you move on."

"But you haven't moved on, have you?" Adelle said. "You're still stuck in the past. Still that little girl, home alone, in Boston—"

"Shut up!" Faith jumped out of her chair. The pen gripped so tightly in her hand, her knuckles turned white. "You don't know anything about me."

Faith grabbed the file in front of Adelle and skimmed through it. Certain words jumped off the page, _abused, neglected, psychotic, murderer_, as though a few words could sum up her life. "You think you know me just because you read a file on me?" She ripped the file to shreds; throwing the pieces to the floor. "Well you don't. You don't know the first thing about me!"

"I never claimed to."

"That's crap."

Faith turned away from her. Running her fingers through her hair she tried to think, stay calm, and find a way out. She couldn't let them get inside her head. "I want to wake up now." She whispered. This had to be a dream. One minute she was in her cell, the next she's in this nightmare. It couldn't be real.

"We can take them away," Adelle said, her words breaking the silence. "The painful memories, we can erase them. Give you a second chance, a new life. No more nightmares."

"What are you talking about?" Faith spat looking over her shoulder.

"That's what we do here. We help people Faith. You give us five years of your life and we can take all the pain away." Adelle looked at the piece of paper left on the table. "All you have to do is sign. The choice is yours."

Faith looked down at the paper, slowly walking back over to the table. Her hand shook as she reached out to it; she pulled her hand back and held it in her other. "And if I don't?"

"If you choose not to, then the council will continue with its original plans."

"No Jail?" Faith glared at Adelle who shook her head solemnly. "So what choice do I have, it's zombie or death?"

"You will not be a zombie, Faith. You'll be doing good things. Things you would normally do as a Slayer. Things you were meant to do."

Faith looked down at the pen in her hand. She'd pressed the tip so hard in to her palm, blood had trickled out. Wiping her palm against her shirt, she leaned down and signed the paper.

"Do it."

Adelle took the paper and pen from her and lead her to the door. It slid open to the now brightly lit hallway. Thoughts of escape raced through her mind as she followed behind obediently.

When they reached the end Adelle pushed open the door, Faith was in shock at the sight before her. They were standing on a landing looking out over what looked like a meditation area. Men and women in pajamas were standing around doing yoga. The place looked so peaceful. Nothing like Faith had imagined. Not that she'd had much time to imagine, but she figured it would be some locked down institution.

Faith walked over to the railing, peering down at all the people. She couldn't decide if they looked happy, or just drugged.

Two large men ushered her to follow Adelle, she glared at them but proceeded. They turned into a strange looking room, filled with gadgets and high-tech equipment. A scrawny nerd walked over with a deer-in-the-headlights look on his face.

"What?" Faith snapped.

"Topher, this is Faith. She's ready for her treatment." Adelle said sternly, as if warning him to lose the expression.

"Yeah, of course. Right. But this is unbelievable." He laughed a goofy smile on his face.

"Topher," She snapped. He reached out to touch Faith and she retracted.

"Hands off perv."

Adelle showed her to the chair. Topher and his assistant set Faith up for the process. Removing her clothes she lay down in the undergarments they provided. They strapped her arms and legs down with restraints, and upon Adelle's request handcuffs were brought in.

Faith was beginning to have second thoughts when a girl entered the room. It was as if all the air in the room vanished. Her chest ached from the pounding of her heart. The girl looked exactly like her, down to every last detail.

"What the hell? Let me go!" She shrieked pulling at the restraints, thrashing around like a wild animal.

"Who is she?" Echo asked calmly. "She has my face."

"Echo, go back downstairs!" Adelle snapped.

Faith screamed, she was trying to break free. She couldn't believe for a second she thought this could be anything but evil. If being strapped to a table naked wasn't enough to convince her. Her identical twin sure as hell was.

There was nothing she could do. She couldn't escape. They shoved needles into her arms, leg and chest as fast as they could. A switch flipped and she felt electricity course through her body. The last thing she saw was the girl being ushered out of the room as her vision faded.

"Echo."


End file.
